Changeable sign.



W. 0. GRANT.

CHANGEABLE SIGN.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 24. 1913.

Patented Anr. 11, 1916.

WILLIS C. GRANT, OF ASI-ITABULA, OHIO.

CHANGEAIBLE SIGN.

a Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 11, 1916.

Application filed May 24, 1913. Serial No. 769,642.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VVILLIS C. GRANT, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Ashtabula, in the county of Ashtabula and State of Ohio, have invepted certain new and useful Improvements in Changeable Signs, of which I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact de-v scription, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The invention relates to the class of signs in which the letters are separately formed and are detachably secured upon convenient supports, and are suitable for advertising purposes of all sorts, and in which letters, figures, or characters of more than one size can be used, so as to give proper display and variety to the reading matter upon the sign. The particular features of novelty in this sign are found in the provision of means permitting the easy removal and attachment of the letters. Two forms of this deviceare included in this invention, one in which the letter supports are inclosed in a frame, and one in which the letter supports are detachably secured together-to form a sectional sign in which each letter support forms a unit, and

the supports can be attached together or de tached from each other to form any desired amount of advertising space.

The invention further comprises the combination and arrangement of parts and construction of details hereinafter described, shown in the accompanying drawings and specifically pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a face view of a sign inclosed in a frame; Fig. 2 is a horizontal section therethrough; Fig. 3 is a vertical section therethrough; Fig. 4 is an enlarged transverse section through two of the letter supports, showing the manner of removing a letter plate from one of them; Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view of a portion of a modified form of my device.

In these views A, A, are flat metal longitudinal members or bars having rearwardly and downwardly turned and inclined and parallel marginal flanges B, B, which are preferably turned backward at their edges at C, C to increase their rigidity.

The letter plates D, D are preferably formed of sheet metal, and are impressed, embossed or colored with their distinctive letters, figures, or other characters. They shown in Fig. 4 in dotted lines,

' are provided with the rearwardly and down-- wardlylnclined marginal edges at top and bottom E and E, which extend over the flanges B, B of the letter supports, and the upper flange E is supported upon the upper edge of the letter support, and hangs freely therefrom. The letter supports are spaced apart and slightly overlap at G, G and the flanges of the letterv plates extend between the longitudinal edges of the letter supports as shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 5. When the latter plates are in posi tion the upper flanges on the letter plates do not lie flat against the flanges of the letter holders but are offset therefrom at their outer ends, as seen in Figs. 4 and 5. The flanges E are also narrower than the flanges B. This construction permits the letter plates to be easily removed by pressing down upon the upper edges of the letter plates, when their lower edges will rise as and they can easily be removed by sliding them upward over the lower edge of the next bar above. The inclined flanges E which serve as hooks to retain the plates upon the bars will be separated therefrom in this manner thus avoiding the necessity for carefully lifting the letter plates in removing them and to permit the rapid removal of the same. It is found in using my invention that in case the letterplate above the one being removed is still in place, the upper flange of the letter plate being removed will slide on the lower flange of the upper letter plate instead of on the flange of the plate A in the same manner and without disturbing the upper letter plate. They can as easily be put in place by dropping the flanges E over the upper 'edgesof the letter holders, when they will slide into position at once. The advantages of this construction are that the supports do not have to be removed to release the letter plates, and the letter plates can be dropped upon their supports in their exact places thereon. They will also slide upon the supports for adjustment if desired.

In Fig. 5 an important modification is shown permitting of: attaching the supports together as units and suspending them by means of a cord or chain. Here H, H are clamping plates provided with inclined marginal flanges backwardly bent at their edges to form channels or hooks it, h,

which can be interlocked with the backwardly bent flanges upon the letter supports. These clamps may be made of any width desired and one or more of them can be slid over the flanges on the supports to attach two of them together. The upper letter support is provided with a chain or cord 1 for its suspension and any number of the letter supports can be suspended therefrom one at a time by means of the clamps until the sign becomes as large as desired. This sign can be easily changed by removing the letter plates and substituting others, or by removing any one of the letter supports and inserting another upon which the letters have been already arranged.

In Figs. 2 and 3 small blocks J, J are employed in connection with screws K, K to secure the letter supports upon a shoulder L formed in the inner edges of the frame M. The letter supports are preferably formed of light sheet metal and hence would rock on their bearing surfaces unless securely held flat thereon.

The rear and downward inclination of the part B of each of the members A to a point below the upper edge of the neXt lower member A is a valuable feature of my invention and greatly facilitates the removal of the letter plates as above indicated. However, the reinforcing flanges C are chiefly of value in resisting the thickness and weight of the members A and in avoiding the use of a frame in the form or modification shown in Fig. 5.

Having described the invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. The combination in a changeable sign, of sheet metal letter supports, and sheet metal letter plates placed thereover, each letter support provided with flanges on its horizontal edges, said flanges inclined down ward at an angle, and the upper edge of one letter support overlapping the lower edge of the adjacent support above, and spaced therefrom, each letter plate provided with downwardly and rearwardly inclined flanges on its horizontal edges, overlying the flanges upon its letter support, the flange upon the upper edge of said letter plate being offset at its outer end from the flange upon the upper edge of said letter support, whereby the letter plate can be given an upward and outward movement to raise the lower edge thereof.

2. The combination with a letter support comprising a bar having a downwardly and rearwardly inclined flange on its horizontal upper edge, of a letter plate having a corresponding downwardly and rearwardly inclined flange on its horizontal upper edge, the said flange upon the letter plate being offset at its outer edge from the said flange on the letter support.

3. The combination of a pair of letter supports having rearwardly extending flanges on their upper and lower horizontal edges, said edges bent backward, of a clamping member therefor provided with inclined marginal flanges, the edge portions of said flanges inwardly bent to form engaging members for the flanges of said letter supports, and means for suspending said letter supports.

4. In a changeable sign in combination, a plurality of vertically spaced horizontal bars for supporting letter plates, said bars having downwardly and rearwardly inclined top and bottom faces, the lower edge of any one bar coming below and behind the upper edge of the next lower bar and letter plates having flanges at their upper edges adapted to hook over the top of a supporting bar and also adapted to slide along the lower inclined face of the bar next above the one on which it has been hung when it is being removed by being thrust upwardly.

5. In a removable letter sign in combination, a plurality of vertically spaced horizontal bars, each having substantially vertical front faces and downwardly and rearwardly top and bottom faces, the lower edge of any given bar falling below and behind the top edge of the next lower bar, and detachable letter plates having hooks adapted to catch over the upper edges of said bars to support the plates, said plates also having flanged lower edges adapted to fit closely against the lower faces of the bars on which they are hung when in place, said hooks being adapted to slide on the lower face of the bar next above the one on which they are supported, or also on the flange of a letter supported by the bar next above the one on which they are supported when they are being removed by being thrust upwardly.

in testimony whereof, I hereunto set my hand this 15th day of March, 1913.

WVTLLIS G. GRANT.

in presence of- WM. M. Mormon, CHAS. H. (has.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner cf Patents, Washington. I). C. 

